Last night was the first time that I can say there was a "shit show" on my Facebook wall. During the Grammy's I made -- what I thought was an innocent -- status update. Upon review, I feel as though I should have used different words, either way, it was definitely not taken well among my Facebook "friends." I stated that I did not understand why Adele was such a big deal. I made it clear that she was a beautiful singer, and had an amazing strong voice. But, I also made it clear that I did not feel she was any better than any other singer. Now, one thing -- a mistake on my part -- that I failed to mention from the get-go was that there was a specific event that triggered this rage filled status update. Jennifer Hudson (another beautiful singer) did a very heartfelt performance as a tribute to the late Whitney Houston. It was beautiful, and brought a tear to my eye. What made me angry was that Adele received a bigger ovation, and more appreciation for her performance. The people in the crowd -- celebrities and otherwise -- clapped and whistled for much longer after Adele's performance. Which shocked me as Adele sang the same song that we've been hearing 5 times a day on our radios. It was nothing special. Was it good? Yes. Was it better than any other performance? No. Did it deserve a better response than the Whitney Houston tribute? Hell no.
As per the title of this post, it still amazes me just how many people have their heads so far up their asses that they can no longer process the smallest pieces of information. My status update started flooding with comments of people in complete shock that I felt that way. 127 comments later and almost every person who chose to comment, chose to put words in my mouth and give their own meanings to my words. There were but a handful of people who actually used their brains and took my words for what they were. I was not bashing Adele's talent. There is no question in my mind that she has a disgusting amount of talent. I just feel that she is overrated -- which is my opinion, which I am completely entitled to. In fact, I find it to be hilarious (and pathetic) that people who are over 21 years of age, can still act like they are in high school. The moment their beliefs are questioned, they become a 15 year old and make the entire thing into a joke. Purposely making fun of someone because of their opinion, is the most immature thing I have ever witnessed. Every person has their own opinion. In this case, I chose to voice my opinion on Facebook -- where apparently, opinions have no place to be -- however, my opinion did not please the general public and therefore I got a lot of slack for it. For the most part, it was a friendly debate, no harm done. However, there are always certain people who are completely unable to be mature in most situations. It isn't easy putting myself out there each and every day, for the world to see. But it is something I want to to, and I truly feel that I should get some form of respect. If you dislike it, don't read it. But you could at least have the decency to keep it to yourself rather than discussing with your friends how "hilarious" it is. This goes for blogs, Facebook, Twitter...everything. (Those I am referring to, will know who they are)
I am beyond tired of the prejudice you see around music. Most of these "friends" claimed that I was "purposely going against the crowd" claiming that I "felt the need to always go against the majority." Are you kidding me? If anything, everyone needs to look at themselves and realize that they need too start not going with the majority. Yes, I tend to be a controversial person, but the only reason my words are looked at as being controversial is because it completely shocks everyone's system. I do not purposely go against the majority, there are often times that I am sitting there with the rest of the world in adoration of an artist. The difference is, I do the research required to use my own brain to choose who to praise. For example, Justin Bieber was highly praised, and is still famous on a massive scale. However, he also got a lot of hate, people claiming that he was "talent-less" and was "made" to be what he is. Now, it was the "cool" thing to do to hate on Bieber, even I fell into the "hate Bieber" hype for a period of time. Then, I remembered watching the kidrauhl videos on You Tube, long before he was all over our TV's, iPod's and Radio's. And I realized that Justin Bieber has an extraordinary amount of talent. Yes he was most definitely molded to look a certain way, which is something I don't agree with, however, there is no denying his talent. Therefore, all of the claims that he has no talent, are completely fabricated and utterly invalid.
Another worthy example -- which I've chosen for a reason I will explain later -- is Lil Wayne. Many feel as though I praise Lil Wayne simply because I am a huge fan. How big of a fan? I have his name tattooed on my arm, so yeah, I'd say I am a pretty hardcore fan. However, I did not become such a huge fan until after I listened to some of his other music. The music industry hot shots decide what will sell, and sell big. They determine what songs will be released. These decisions typically only show one side of an artist. In the example of Lil Wayne, most judge him only on his songs such as "Lollipop." Auto-tuned and has zero meaning in the lyrics. I can understand why people would determine he is talent-less after hearing this song, or many others like it. However, these people pass judgement far too quickly. If one were to take the time to listen to his other music, you would find that he has an entire album that he plays the guitar instruments himself, he is not auto tuned, and he actually sings. Not to mention, a lot of the songs have a lot of deep meaning and good messages. Believe it or not, but the song Paradice and Runnin actually got me through a lot of hard times. It takes a lot for a song to have so much meaning and such a good message that it can get me through tough patches of my life.
The problem is simple. The majority of people refuse to take a chance that they might like something, that isn't "cool" to like. I urge you all to 1. Keep in mind that I in no way said that everyone was like this, I simply said the majority. 2. If you feel you aren't in that majority, prove it, because chances are high, that you are.
Now, back to Adele. Adele can sing, she has soul and a beautiful, strong voice. However, I still truly feel that it was sickening to see her get a larger, better, response than Jennifer Hudson's Whitney Houston tribute. Adele is a good singer, she isn't the best thing to happen to music. Simple as that. End of story.
-Drea
